The toddler ‘probably barely got the trigger pulled’, said Sheriff Bob Gualtieri. He described the .380-caliber handgun as a lightweight weapon usually carried in a pocket or on a hip.
Photograph: Facebook via WTSP in Tampa

A two-year-old Florida boy died on Wednesday after accidentally shooting himself with his father’s .380 caliber handgun that he found in the family car.

The toddler, Kaleb Ahles, climbed into the front seat of the family’s vehicle while his parents carried boxes to move out of their home in Tarpon Springs, located about 30 miles north-west of Tampa.

Kaleb, alone in the car, crawled across the seat and found the gun that was stored in the glove compartment, sheriff Bob Gualtieri of the Pinellas County sheriff’s office said during a Wednesday evening press conference.

Kaleb then grabbed the gun, turned the barrel toward his chest, and squeezed the trigger, Gualtieri said.

His parents heard a loud “pop” and ran toward the car, deputies said. His mother, Christina Nigro, immediately began CPR while another family member who was there to help with the move called 911.

“It’s just one of those things that happens where everything lined up the wrong way, where we had a two-and-a-half year old that was able to take a gun, pick it up turn it around and he shot himself dead center in the middle of the chest,” Gualtieri said.

Deputies arrived at the home just before 5pm on Wednesday, and an ambulance rushed Kaleb to a nearby hospital,

At a press conference held in the family’s neighborhood, Gualtieri confirmed that the toddler had shot himself, and was not shot by someone else, the Miami Herald reported.

“He probably barely got the trigger pulled,” Gualtieri said.

The sheriff said it appears there was no wrongdoing, and the parents are not facing charges, saying that the parents have been punished enough by the loss of their son.

“It appears to be another tragic situation,” Gualtieri said. “It’s just one of those things that happens where everything happens the wrong way.”

Florida law requires gun owners to secure their loaded firearm in the presence of children younger than 16 years old. However, a person can only be held criminally liable if the minor accesses a gun and exhibits it in a public place, or brandishes it in a threatening or angry manner.

Detectives said the gun was secured in the glove department of the car.

Cecilia Barreda, a spokeswoman with the Pinellas County sheriff’s office, confirmed on Thursday that detectives were still investigating the incident, and the parents are, as of now, not facing charges.

The detectives “do believe the gun was stored properly,” Barreda said. She said additional details about the incident could not be provided at this time.

The child’s grandfather, a retired Tampa police detective also named Kevin Ahles, apparently drove to the scene immediately after learning of his grandson’s death.

“A great little kid was killed today,” he told the Miami Herald. “That’s all there is to say.”